I Salute You
by Rinny Z
Summary: A future one-shot fic. Zim and Dib FRIENDSHIP... kinda angsty... this has nothing at all to do with my other fic. Would you please read and review? 0-0;


WHEE. Yes. Yes, YES, IT IS I, RIN! -gets pelted by fruits-  
  
Mmkay then. 0.o  
  
So, this is a One-Shot fic, and it is set in the future. About 50 years in the future. :)  
  
It has Zim/Dib FRIENDSHIP. And I guess it is kinda angsty. And... aw, I don't wanna give the plot away! ...Wait... there is no plot to be given away. ;-;  
  
Actually, when you think about it, if it weren't for the fact that they are enemies, Zim and Dib could be bestest fwends! O.O  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim. Okay? Now, stop irking me... e.e;  
  
So I hope you enjoy. And now.... let the fic... BEGIN!!  
  
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A cold wind blew through the street. It whistled and danced through carelessly open windows and doors. It rustled the leaves on the few trees that where left, making them quiver and shake as if in fear.  
  
It was an old street, lined with old, empty buildings. Buildings that had once been bursting with life, pointless as that life was.  
  
Zim smiled as he crept along it, soundlessly, alert, as if this was some sort of dangerous mission. Which, in his mind, was exactly what it was. After an equivalent of 50 Earth years, he still had not conquered this planet.  
  
And it was all because of _him_.  
Zim could see him now, in the distance, sprawled on the dank cold ground. _"Weak!"_, Zim thought. _"Always was! Ever since I came here. The only thing that has kept his planet safe is luck. Pure luck."  
  
_Zim crept closer and closer to Dib. Over the past years, Zim had noticed a decrease in his energy. And an increase in wrinklyness. And, not only that, but Dib's hair had paled drastically. It troubled him a bit. Of course, Zim had eventually decided that it was all a trick, a plot to lure him into a sense of overconfidence, and thus make him careless in his Invasion. Dib was tricky that way, and it made perfect sense to Zim's mind.  
  
Zim shook off all thoughts, as he came closer to his enemy. He let his Irken instinct take over, put himself on autopilot, for the coming hunt. Irkens where predatorial creatures in their earlier stages, and the instincts that came with a hunter had not been removed, even by all the genetic changes and mutations the past millennia had wrought.  
  
Closer and closer he came, and now he could clearly see him, Dib, that hated enemy, the only thing standing between he, Zim, and planet Earth.  
  
Closer, so close... close enough to see that something was wrong.  
  
Zim stopped abruptly, and stared at Dib. What was wrong? There was something wrong here.  
  
...  
  
..  
  
.  
  
Dib was not moving. Zim blinked in surprise. Why did he not run? Did he not fear the Unstoppable Death Machine that was Zim?  
  
Zim clenched his Irken teeth in slight irritation. He mocked him! This human mocked him! Zim! Or did it...? Zim stopped and sat down. He scratched at his head through his heavy wig, which was still the same one he had gotten, oh so many human years ago...  
  
_"That's it!"_, Zim thought, jumping to his feet. _"He is doing it again! Trying to trick me!"  
  
_"Sneaky, Dib, but I'm not falling for it!" Zim yelled. "You can stop now. Get up and face me, Dib-stink! Or are you frightened?"  
  
Zim paused. Dib was not responding. How very odd.  
  
"Dib-human? Dib-stink? Dib? DIB! Face me, you can stop now! I am ON TO YOUR PLAN! Stop it. You are pathetic. Get up and face me! Oh, you horrible, pathetic, cowardly HUMAN! On your feet, now!"  
  
Zim crept forward, until he was but a few feet away from the old human. He stared at Dib. In his mind, he had begun to think... maybe... no! It was just a trick, Dib was fine, in a few moments it would leap to it's feet and point and tease and laugh, then it would run off, leaving Zim with the challenge, the promise of another fight!  
  
"_Dib. Pathetic waste_. Up! Now! Get up, or face the WRATH, OF ZIIIIIMMM!!! You! OBEY THE FIST!" Zim yelled angrily as he shook his fist in front of Dib's face.  
  
No response.  
  
Zim faltered. It was not faking it. Something was horribly wrong. Now that he thought of it, Dib hadn't been running that quickly today, when Zim had been chasing him, trying to steal some of his brain-meats for his new plan of... brain-meats.  
  
Zim's eyes narrowed, and he looked around. No one in sight. Of course, people didn't come here anymore. It was old, forgotten, a dead place. Zim looked around once more, and took out one of his spider leg attachments.  
  
He prodded the human's shoulder. Nothing. Zim walked around it, putting away his spider leg attachment as he went. He peered into the human's face, careful to stay a foot or so away, lest he be exposed to it's horrible, icky GERMS. After a moment, Zim yelled, loudly, "DIB!!"  
  
Nothing. Nothing at all.  
  
Zim stepped back in shock. Was the human... dead? No. It could not be. Zim had come here 50 human years ago. How old had Dib been? About 11, maybe 12? So, now Dib was just past 60. A mere SMEET. How could this happen?  
  
Zim sat on the ground, trying to collect his thoughts. Sixty-one. Sixty-two at the most. A smeet.... by Irken standards. How did humans age, again? Zim racked his brains, trying to remember. But he couldn't. Oh, he should have payed attention in Biology! Human life spans... why did he not know this?! He was ZIM! Zim knew all! And yet, he did not know this? HOW?!  
  
In the 50 years Zim had been there, not much about him had changed. Zim was still basically the same. He was 50 years older. He had grown a few inches, and was no longer the shortest. Skoodge was now, wherever he was.  
  
But Dib had grown taller. Almost as much as the Tallest themselves. Leaner, stronger (though not as strong as Zim), faster, smarter, and harder to defeat.  
  
That was good. Zim enjoyed a challenge.  
  
But a few years ago... he seemed to have gone... backwards. Weaker. Slower. A bit duller in mind. Zim hadn't given it much thought.  
  
Zim had thought it was but a brief metamorphosis period. Many species had a brief metamorphosis, during which they weakened, only to return stronger later on.  
  
Zim looked at Dib again. Dead. That was it. He had... won?  
  
_"I won? I won!"_, he thought. _"But at what price, Zim? At what price? I mean... maybe... could we... could Dib had been... a friend?"  
  
_Zim backed away from Dib a bit.  
  
_"No. Invaders need no one! A friend. Friendship. Irkens are in no need of such things. Friends... are nothing but a weakness. Irkens have no weaknessess. But... you where both... outcasts? Different? Looked down upon... trying to prove yourselves. Maybe.... you COULD have been... friends?"_  
  
Zim shook his head and looked down at Dib. How ironic. Zim, looking down at Dib.  
  
_"Well... maybe we could have had some sort of... FRIENDSHIP... but it is too late for that." _he thought bitterly. Sadly, even.  
  
Zim looked around again. No one here. No one to see.  
  
Zim reached up, and took off his wig in a respectful gesture. He held his hand up to his brow, straight and tense in salute. He held his wig by his side, and muttered three quiet words...  
  
"I salute you."

And with that, the Irken Invader turned, and walked down the street, to his home. Away from the only friend he had ever had.  
  
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0.o  
  
Yeah. I dunno. I dunno WHAT that was, really, I didn't. But review if you want to... wait, scratch that, review because I TELL YOU TO.


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